The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-02-05
ExPENslvE France.


0AHAQ A-AtlnKt COHAly A3Ao@EDS 800 @S~0~~
and Peculiar TaxstiOn. ~
Paris is a great city for money spenI
Ing. 1t has wealthy population. and
the million and odd hundred thousands
Of the poorer classes live of, these.
There are millionaires here from every
where. There are more than 5000
people who pay rents of 5000 to 81, 200
a year, aud 2SS who. pay over 5000 .
year each. { II is said that there ARE
5000 persons in Paris who have in
comes Of $4,000 or more = year, and
among them are some Americans. John
W. Mackay's wife leads the Latter. and
she hasa big paIacesnot far from the
Champs Elysee and near the Arc dc
Triomphe. One of the United States
Legation secretaries of tho past used to
estimate his yearly expenses in Paris
ut $50. 900. though his salary was,
suppose, not one-tenth that sum. He
was millionaire, however, aud could
stand it.
Both Paris and France are heavily
taxed, and France has the biggest ma
tienal debt in the world. 1t is more
than five billions of dollars, and the
Government continues to spend money
as though all of its citizens were rich
and it had q large bank account to its
credit. This year it made-a new loan
of more than St7 100000. and it is
constantly increasing its army and in
ternal Improvement expenses Since
the war with Germany a Paris guide
book states that it has spent $500, Co.,
900 on war material al0ne, .and its
army amounts on a peace footing to
about 500, 900 men. 1t has 200 Briga-
dior Generals, and in case of a war it
can muster over 1900, 600 men. OF
these one-half are trained soldiers, and
nearly 100000 of tho whole are wholly
unframed. War preparations 60 on
perpetualIy in France. and q fight with
Germany IS among the expectations Of
many Frenchmen. The French hate
the Germans, and they have q larger
army and more guns than the Ger
mans. They have shown themselves
good fighters. though they dom seem
to have the staying powers and the
good physiques of their enemies Paris
has been fortified, and that more
strongly than ever, and they are spend
ing a great deal to build up their navy.
Over forty millions were spent in 1883
and they now have 400 steamships. -,
With such a debt France must needs
be heavily taxed Still, the people are
thrifty. and one does not see heoe the
poverty of England and Ireland.
There is notably less dirt, and notably
more happiness. The French taxation
scheme is curious thing to an Ameri-
can. Every thing is taxed. and the
taxation is both direct and indirect.
There is a house tax, paid in propof-S
ton to the rental. The, privilege of
working at a trade or a.profession is
taxed. There is land tax, and there
is tariff on articles imported from
abroad. There is also the .octroi tax
which makes every article brought in
to a city pay duty. and there are rev
enue stamps for bills, checks and re-
ceipts. If French farmer brings q
dozen eggs into Par,s, he must pay 4
tax upon them at the entrance 70 the
city, and il his wife carries in q pound
Of butter she pays a percentage upon
it before it can be sold. Funeral mat
tiers are taxed and the Government
makes all OF the tobacc0 made in the
country. - ~
II is very poor tobacco. too, and the
prices show that its revenue from this
source must be vesy large The gov
eminent of Paris also does the pawn
-